What is Love?
by Mystical Miyuki
Summary: A simple question gets a simple yet effective response. Random drabble/fluff. InuXKag and MirXSan.


**Holy hell, it's been eight years since I've uploaded a story. Forgive me, my dears. I joined the Army, got out, went to college, pretty much became an adult.**

**However I have reinvigorated my love of writing. I'm actually in the process of writing a book and hopefully having it published within the next couple of years. I'll let you all know if that ever becomes a reality.**

**One of my previous stories is actually a chapter story and I am up in the air on if I will continue it as is or delete it and restart anew.**

**Either way, I hope to actually finish any stories I may write.**

**The fanfiction stories I write now will be considered practice for me so all criticism and concerns is very much appreciated! I can't get any better without knowing what I'm doing wrong.**

**No flames please. Constructive criticism is always best.**

**This is just a short little one-shot to get my creative juices flowing. You could probably call it drabble if you will.**

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"What is love, Kagome?"

The words cut through the air swiftly, causing all the recipients of such a sound to perk up and glance around just to make sure that was really what had been said. Their eyes fell upon a little fox cub, his big fluffy tail swishing haphazardly behind him as he stared at his surrogate mother questioningly.

Her eyebrows furrowed together momentarily as she regarded him curiously. "What do you mean, Shippo? You know what love is, don't you?" she asked cautiously, a maternal concern flashing across her face. "You don't think I don't love you, do you? Or I mean, that we don't love you, oh I'm so sor-"

"No, no, no, nothing like that Kagome!" the little kit stated eagerly, waving his hands frantically as if to calm her nerves. Indeed, there seemed to be concern on all the faces surrounding them. The demon slayer had a slight frown on a normally pleasant face. The lech of the group had his hand grasping his chin in thought, almost as if in a daze until one were to gaze into his eyes; they remained attentive and unsure of the question at hand. Even the two tailed cat seemed to realize that there may be dangerous waters for she had jumped off Sango's shoulders and nuzzled into Shippo's side affectionately. The only one who didn't seem worried was, of course, the hanyou that was seated on a rather sturdy branch of an old oak tree. With a very noticeable 'keh!' escaping his lips, he turned away to supposedly ignore the conversation. His ears, however, betrayed him; they were tilted towards the group, waiting for the continuation of words.

"Then what is it, Shippo? Why do you ask?" Kagome responded gently, tilting her head to the side as she watched him tentatively. A faint breeze had seemingly picked up out of nowhere, as if to try to ease the tension of the situation that had suddenly fallen on them like Inuyasha after a well placed 'osuwari'.

The fox demon tilted his head in response, mimicking his mother momentarily before responding. "Just as I asked, Kagome. What is love? I mean there has to be a different type... Ummm... How do I put it... I know you love me like you're my mom but Miroku also loves Sango-" a slight eep was heard nearby as a certain male seemed to redden furiously, "-even though I know it's not like how you love me. They aren't siblings or family in any other way, or at least they don't act like family, you don't want family members to have your kids. I mean, he says he wants people to bear his children all the time!"

His words were met with another silence that seemed to enrapture the group more than the conversation itself. Once again, there was concern on all faces except the one in the tree. Miroku was currently staring at the sky with a determined expression, as if nothing could be more interesting than the clouds above him and the fantastic shapes they made as they passed overhead. Sango was looking at a different part of the sky, her face a darker shade than before, fingers twitching to strangle someone, anyone, just to end this awkward moment.

Inuyasha was chuckling heartily in the tree, loving the expressions on the two lovers on the ground as they tried to ignore the world around them. His laughter ceased almost immediately as he saw Kagome's burning gaze upon him and he quickly stifled it into the sleeve of his red haori.

Clearing her throat as she looked upon Shippo's face, she quickly picked him up and settled him in her lap, rolling her eyes at the reactions after the initial moment had passed. "Honestly you guys, there's nothing to be ashamed of! If Shippo was able to pick up on it, then you two really aren't that discreet in your feelings at all. That's not so bad, is it? I mean, we all knew!" Kagome chastised gently, getting a little nudge from Shippo.

"Actually Kagome, I heard Miroku telling Inuyasha about it yesterday. How much he loved Sango and how nice she smelled and a lot of other things that I didn't understand... I mean, why's it a big deal to sleep with her, I sleep next to you all the time; no one would care if they slept on the same mat like we do! Wait, does that mean we love each other that way, because we sleep tog-"

Kagome immediately covered Shippo's mouth with her hand before he could utter another word, the color draining from her face almost instantly. There was another moment's silence before it was interrupted by the roar of laughter from up in the trees. This time Kagome couldn't chastise the dog demon; she couldn't even utter a word in response to this.

She fared much better than the other two humans in the clearing.

...At least, they had been in the clearing. Before she could utter a word, Miroku was halfway across the field with a very angry demon slayer chasing him with her Hiraikotsu.

"Sango, my love, we were just talki- OW! Watch where you swing that thin-"

"I can swing it in many other places, you perverted monk, you, you better hope I don't catch up to you-"

"But my darling, I only meant that I wanted us to become one, to share our lo- OUCH, would you stop it?!"

"How dare you speak of that so openly with someone else and obviously in the open; Shippo even heard you!"

Their voices slowly drifted off into the distance, only the resounding smack of a Hiraikotsu with a skull could be heard echoing back to them.

A small cough brought the rest of the group back into reality as Shippo looked expectantly for an answer and finally Kagome realized she was going to have to be the one to give him that answer.

Brushing his hair out of his face and giving herself time to compose herself, Kagome cleared her throat and smiled sweetly at the kit in her lap.

"Well... Shippo... We'll talk about that sleep thing a different time but let me just tell you that it's something entirely separate from what normal sleeping is... Um. Ignore that, really," she said in a rush, noting that the look on his face was even more confused than before. Before he could ask another question, she kept right on, looking up at Inuyasha with a 'help me!' gaze and receiving a 'you're on your own, wench' one in return.

"There's really no difference in love. There are different types that have different meanings, but they are the same. For example, yes, Sango and Miroku love each other. Is that love different than how they love you or me? Most certainly. But at the same time, the love means the same thing."

She could tell that Shippo was starting to get antsy with this explanation, not understanding completely what she was saying and so she tried again.

"The way I love you means that I want to protect you, keep you safe. The way I love you means that I want the best for you, that I care about you immensely and don't want to lose you in my life. However the way I love... someone else..."

At this point, Inuyasha's ears perked up completely, his gaze on the raven haired woman seated below him and one that was locking her eyes with him as she spoke.

"...It means all those same things but more. I think about them all day. It brings a smile to my face just to see them. I want to spend the rest of my life with them. I would sacrifice my life for them. The love, in essence, is the same but the type of love is tenfold."

Inuyasha stared at her for another moment before turning his head away. The only thing that gave away what he was thinking was the slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. Even as a human, however, it was noticeable enough to Kagome and caused a smile to appear on her face.

Gazing back down at Shippo, who seemed to finally understand a little more, she finished softly as she scratched behinds his ears absentmindedly. "Before you were born, your mother and father loved each other. They had a different kind of love that made them want a family, want to have you. One day, you'll find someone that you love so deeply that you can't live without them. You'll want a family with them, you'll want to provide for them, you'll want to protect them... But you'll still love me in a way that makes you want to spend time with me and have fun. Do you understand now?"

Shippo nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks Kagome, I understand much better now! I can't wait to love someone like that; Inuyasha is sure lucky that you love a stupid mutt like him!"

Without any more words, Shippo bounded off with Kirara hot on his heels, leaving Kagome to be staring at her hands with a wide eyed gaze and Inuyasha immediately growling out a "Hey, what do you think you're saying over there, calling me a mutt?!" as he leapt out of the tree and began to chase the fox around.

Inuyasha caught Kagome's gaze for a moment as she lifted up her head and before he turned back to grab a fluffed up tail of a struggling Shippo, she saw his lips tilt up in a soft smile that only she could see.

She returned the smile momentarily as she saw him turn away to pummel at the poor kit who was wailing back at him.

Turning around to stare into the distance where she saw Sango and Miroku slowly making their way back to the group, one permanently red in the face and the other severely black and blue everywhere, she allowed herself to fall back into the grass as the breeze picked up once again.

Had she seen the rather devilish smile on the face of the fox pup, she would have realized maybe he wasn't so naive about life as she had previously thought.0

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**Ugh. Crap, crap and more crap. Not entirely pleased with this but as I said, this is my first jump back into writing in a long time.**

**Please criticize the hell out of me on anything that needs it, tell me what I did right, and hey, look at my other stories and give me some requests. The more I write, the more I get better, and the better my book becomes.**

**Thanks everyone! This is Mystical Miyuki, signing off!**


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